


Nativity

by rethrin



Category: Franklin & Bash
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, Circus, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-01
Updated: 2012-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-10 20:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/470519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rethrin/pseuds/rethrin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Circus!AU.  Fluffy and happy.  Written for the F&B Christmas ficfest on LJ.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nativity

Peter woke at six. He reached out but the other side of the bed was empty, cold, and hadn't been slept in. He shivered as he climbed out of bed and quickly pulled on the warmest clothes he had to hand, thick trousers, warm vest, and heavy sweater. He shrugged into his coat, and slipped on boots without bothering to tie them. He could see his breath in the cold air of the caravan, and when he opened the door there were hints of snow swirling in the air. He grabbed a hat and gloves and stepped outside, yawning. 

The moon was still bright, although the daylight was just starting to show, so Peter could find his way easily. He could see the Christmas tree glowing brightly at the center of camp, but he turned the other way, head down against the wind. He could hear sounds of some of the camp coming to life even at this hour, while others, he knew, would only have fallen into bed an hour or two ago. 

Past the last few trailers there was a fire burning, Georg and Steven were both on six foot unicycles, practising some complicated new passing routine in the light from the fire. He smiled and waved as Georg called hello, passing by to the outer edges of the camp.

When Peter was young this area had been far bigger and more exciting. He only remembered the animals through a child's eyes, as loved pets or friends, but he knew it hadn't been like that. The cages had usually been slightly too small, the food slightly too scarce, and training techniques not always kind. When Teresa had inherited control from her father she had quickly built up their human skills and scaled back on the animal side of things, and few people had been sad to see it happen. Although equally, everyone was glad she'd made an exception.

The lights were on in the smaller shelter of the enclosure, Peter pushed open the door and stepped into the warmth. Sure enough Jared was there. Marisa was lying in the straw, and Jared looked tiny as always next to her, sitting cross-legged, one hand stroking her ear. He had a soft paperback, and as Peter came in he could hear him reading aloud, it was some adventure novel about spies and guns. 

"Hey buddy," Peter said, "How's she doing?" He sat down behind Jared, wrapped his arms around his middle, and kissed his ear. 

"She's doing _good_ ," Jared said, and stroked his hand over Marisa's brow. "Isn't that right, baby?" he asked her softly, and she twitched her trunk, softly nudging Jared's foot. "I know. You're having a rest now, but in a little bit we'll get up, and you're going to be just fine."

"What did Tomas say?"

"That she's doing good," he said, but he sounded entirely unconvinced. Peter pulled him back and hugged him tightly, waiting for him to go on. "She's just so weak, and she's not eating, and there are so many things that can go wrong. It can be so sudden. And she's been lying down and Tomas says not to worry, but the books say she should be on her feet."

"Hey," Peter reached out to hold Marisa's trunk for a moment, as a hello. "She's having a rough night, okay? Let her rest for a while, she'll be fine."

Jared nodded, trying to convince himself. "Tomas says it'll come tonight," he said. "For sure. She has to be strong by then."

"It's really happening, then? I was starting to think she'd be pregnant forever."

"Yeah, me too." Jared almost smiled. 

Then Marisa swished her trunk, and made a low moaning noise, so he leaned forward and picked bananas out of the straw, holding them out to her. But she pushed them away, groaning loudly. Jared sighed.

"Peter's here, baby. Just like he was when _you_ were born. Everything's going to be a-okay." He settled back against Peter. "You will stay for a bit, won't you?"

"Course. They won't need me til the evening show."

"She can't die."

"She's not going to die," Peter said. 

"She's only seventeen."

"Seventeen?" He squeezed Jared. "Dude, we're getting _old_."

Jared smiled softly. "Yeah, we are."

  


* ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' *

  


Peter was fifteen when Marisa was born, and Tomas had let him name her. Circus tradition said she should be named for a folk hero, or a goddess, but Peter named her for an actress he'd seen in a film a couple of years earlier, and wouldn't be swayed.

Jared turned up a few weeks later. He came to see the show, and Peter found him with Marisa afterwards, petting her through the bars of her enclosure. 

"You're not meant to be back here."

Jared looked up at him. "Do you live here?"

Peter nodded, and crouched down next to him, stroking Marisa's side. 

"How old is she?"

"Only about three weeks. You're meant to come in the morning if you want to see her."

"Three weeks?" Jared said softly, and he looked at Marisa again, trying to wrap his head around something so big being so little. Then he smiled, harder than Peter had ever seen anyone smile before, and stroked her again. Peter wondered how he could make him smile at _him_ like that, but he didn't know where the thought had come from or what to do with it. 

Marisa gurgled, and wrapped her trunk around Jared's arm. She looked at him with her big dark eyes, blinking at him very seriously. Jared laughed with sheer delight, and it made Peter laugh too just to hear it. 

"Hello, baby," Jared said to her, his voice gentle and warm. "Who's beautiful then, hey? Who's a beautiful baby?"

"Her name's Marisa," Peter said, and Jared nodded, not really listening to him. He kept talking softly to Marisa, saying nothing much. She looked up at him, enraptured, and Jared's eyes shone, looking back at her. 

Peter watched them, he knew that really he should send the boy away, he wasn't meant to be back here. But not one bit of him wanted to. Anyway he didn't even seem to remember Peter was there, he was just looking at Marisa as if she was the only thing in the world. Peter moved away a little bit, and just watched them, trying to think of something to say.

"What do you do?" Jared asked, later, when he'd stopped making eyes at the elephant and bothered to look at Peter again. 

"Did you see the show? I was on trapeze tonight, Bernie nearly missed me on the last pass. But I'm better at the high wire."

Jared stared. "How old are you?"

"Fifteen. You?" 

"Sixteen a few days ago." Jared was still looking at him, clearly astonished. "Your dad doesn't mind you doing all that?"

Peter shrugged. "I live with my mom. I don't see dad much, he lives in New York. I've been performing since I was eight."

They talked for hours after that, until well after dark. They talked about nothing much, and everything, and somehow it wasn't weird like it usually was with people from the outside. Peter had never laughed as much in his life, and even though Jared teased him about the things he didn't know, he did it with a smile that made Peter want to tell him every thought he'd ever had. 

Jared came back the next night, and the next. Always by the elephant enclosure, always straight after the show. Peter let him come inside, meet Marisa properly, and her mom. 

Jared always assured him that when he'd decided to run away with them it was at least partly because of Peter, but Peter knew it wasn't him Jared had fallen in love with first.

They'd found him quickly, they were used to kids trailing after them and knew all the places to search. But Jared was different to most. He was a rich kid, a bit posh, but he'd charmed everyone he met, made himself useful, helped out with anything and everything. He fitted in. He was funny and quick, and best of all the elephants clearly adored him. Even then they were the only animals left, if you didn't count Jones' dogs, or the horses. 

"Mom, Teresa'll let him stay properly if you say he can live here," Peter said. "You know she will. Please. Tomas needs help anyway, he says he can find him work if he has somewhere to stay."

"It's no life if you're not born into it," she said to Jared. But Jared just glanced at Peter and smiled, and said it was where he wanted to be. 

"But I can sleep in with the elephants," he said. "It's okay."

Peter scowled at him. "You're not living there."

"I like it."

Peter ignored him. "Please, mom," he said again. 

She smiled at them both and then stroked Peter's hair quickly, and turned back to whatever she was cooking. "Of course he can stay. He shares your soul, Peter, he'll always be welcome here."

Peter apologised afterwards, said his mom always said stuff like that. Which she did, sort of. But Jared hadn't seemed put out by it anyway, he'd just shrugged.

They didn't kiss until they were eighteen. And then they burst out laughing because it seemed so obvious once they did it. They'd been together since. 

It wasn't always easy, especially in the winter when it was cold and dark. But it was the only life Peter had ever known. And Jared smiled at him every day, and laughed with him. Peter sometimes looked at the people in the crowds, the men wearing suits and vests, with briefcases and pretty wives. He knew that was what Jared had been meant for; an office and a steady job, a family, a house. He tried to imagine him like that, but he couldn't. Jared hadn't been born here, but the circus was a part of him. Jared could never have been like those other people.

From the time he got there Jared spent every moment possible with Tomas and his elephants, happily learning everything Tomas could teach him. With all the other animals gone they had as much space as they could use, and wherever they set up camp Jared always somehow managed to take the sweetest spot for their enclosure, and nobody ever seemed to mind. He'd quickly persuaded Teresa that they could keep the elephants in conditions just as good as any zoo. He kept his word, and although they were expensive to transport, they were also the biggest draw by far. Especially Marisa. Before long they had a reputation so good that local zoos in the towns they visited were coming to talk to Jared, taking advice and comparing techniques. 

Marisa's dad had to be re-homed, but they had Marisa, her mom and her aunt. Then they'd adopted another male a few years ago, from another struggling circus, and Peter had never known Jared so happy. Especially when Marisa had fallen pregnant. 

"My baby's going to have a baby of her own," Jared had told him, his eyes shining. "She'll be the best mom in the whole world."

He spent most of two years walking on air, prouder than any prospective father had ever been. Until a week ago, when the birth had drawn closer, and he'd started worrying himself sick instead.

  


* ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' *

  


Jared went back to reading to Marisa for a while, and Peter made himself helpful with a rake, tidying the straw, getting rid of anything covered in blood and mucus, and laying down fresh. When he was finished Jared started trying to get Marisa to drink again, but she ignored him, tossing her head, and trumpeting in pain.

Peter saw Jared starting to shake, he pulled him to his feet and into a tight hug. 

"It's going to be okay, she's going to be okay. You've had five vets out here, and Tomas knows more than any of them anyway. She's having a baby, you can't expect her to do it all according to some book."

"I don't want her to die," Jared said quietly, into Peter's chest.

"She won't."

"They'll say I didn't love her, they'll say I didn't take care of her, that I should have put her in a zoo. They'll think it's my fault."

Peter stroked his hair. "Well that's crap, and you know it. No one could have taken better care of her than you have. No one." Jared leaned all his weight against Peter and sighed heavily. 

"I love her so much, Peter, I don't know what I'd do without her."

"She's only seventeen, Jared, she's strong and healthy, she's going to be fine." Jared was crying, quietly, Peter held him until it passed. "When did you last sleep?" 

Jared shrugged like he didn't know.

"When did you last eat?"

Another shrug, like it didn't matter. Jared stepped back, drying his eyes on his sweater. 

"I'm okay. She won't do much now, until tonight, I'll have a rest later." 

He turned away, all his attention immediately back with Marisa, who was struggling to stand up. She didn't make it and lay back down, moaning her frustration. 

Peter was just getting ready to go and fetch food when Tomas came in, with a flask full of hot coffee and a basket of bread and cheese and leftovers from last night. 

"Peter!" He hugged him as though he'd not seen him for months rather than hours. "Isn't she marvellous?" He gestured at Marisa and Peter nodded automatically, it didn't matter where or when you met Tomas or Jared, the first thing they wanted was your agreement at the brilliance of their beloved elephants, then the rest of the conversation. "Your Jared is worrying, but everything is going well. He's just young, it is his first baby."

Peter smiled, relieved. Tomas went to say hello to Marisa, petting her gently, then making her moan when he pressed against the baby, seeing how it was lying. Jared watched him carefully, looking for any sign that he might see a problem. But he declared everything well, and set about fixing them a meal while Marisa dozed.

By lunchtime they had Marisa back on her feet, and she was drinking, and looking more herself. Jared was nearly dead on his feet, but he still refused to leave, so when Tomas went to see to the other elephants Peter made up a bed on the bails of straw at the back of the shed. He piled it up with blankets, and resorted to putting Jared over his shoulder and dumping him down on it. 

"You have to rest, Jare. You're no good to her if you pass out. I can look after her for a bit."

Jared frowned at him, but Peter stood his ground, and eventually Jared realised he was serious and started settling down. Peter ignored his mutterings about how he didn't need looking after and was a grown up and could take care of himself, but tuned back in when he heard him saying "...not even going to come and keep me company, and it's cold, and Christmas eve, but you're going to make me sleep on my own, you're the worst boyfriend in the world, Peter Bash, I could do so much better..."

Peter grinned, and climbed up next to Jared, lying where he could hold Jared but still keep an eye on Marisa. Jared's mutterings stopped, and he cuddled close, keeping warm. 

"You promise not to go to sleep and leave her on her own?" he said and Peter nodded. 

Jared licked Peter's throat, and kissed his jaw. "Was looking forward to tonight," he said, reaching a hand under Peter's sweater. 

"Me too. Your elephant has terrible timing," Peter said, gently pushing Jared's hand away. "Santa will just have to see you next year." 

Jared wriggled, remembering last year when Santa had woken him up on Christmas morning and rewarded him for being a very good boy indeed. 

"Dude, Santa could come and visit any time he likes, check up on me, you know. Make sure I'm staying on the right track."

Peter laughed, that sounded like a plan to him.

Having been denied access under Peter's sweater, Jared stroked lower, but Peter grinned and shook his head, catching hold of Jared's wrist and pulling him away. "Dude, Marisa is _right there_."

"Pff, she never minded." 

That was true, when they were young they'd sought out every bit of privacy the circus had to offer, and they'd ended up in the elephants' straw more than once. 

"You're meant to rest, Jare," he said, and kissed his hair.

Jared frowned a little bit, but started arranging himself comfortably against Peter all the same. 

"Okay. But my baby has perfect timing. It's all very biblical, spending Christmas eve in a stable, sleeping in the straw, waiting for a baby."

Peter acknowledged that he had a point with a nod, then frowned. "Tell me you don't think Marisa's baby is the second coming of Jesus Christ our saviour." 

Jared shook his head and yawned again. "It's what Tomas keeps saying. But I was there two years ago. I saw everything, and her conception was _not_ immaculate. It was dirty and messy and if God was working through Gregorio that day then he could have made him a little more of a gentleman."

Peter laughed and tucked the blankets tighter around them both. Jared sighed a little bit, snuggling into Peter's shoulder, and was asleep in seconds. Peter held him for hours, and Jared barely moved, his breath slow and deep, the exhaustion of days finally being released. Tomas came back and Peter slept for a while himself, until eventually someone came to fetch him because he was late for rehearsal. 

Jared didn't even kiss him when he woke, just swore at him for letting him sleep so long and hurried over to Marisa, to check everything was okay.

  


* ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' *

  


The show overran, and Peter was late getting back. Most of the camp were gathered outside the enclosure now, waiting to welcome the new arrival, however long it might take.

Jared was raking up and chatting to Marisa while she trumpeted and groaned, staggering forwards a few steps, then to the side, then groaning so loudly Peter could feel the walls shaking. Jared didn't notice him come in. Marisa leaned against the piles of hay, and watched Jared tidying up around her. She trumpeted long and hard at him as if this was his fault. 

"I know, baby," he kept saying. "I know it hurts. But it won't be long now."

"You'll have to be quiet, Marisa, or he'll only start singing to you," Peter said, and Jared looked up instantly and smiled at him, full force. He stopped what he was doing and came over to give Peter a quick hug, looking him up and down, checking for broken bones, scrapes, anything at all. Peter had performed twice a day most of their life, but Jared still never expected him back in one piece. 

"I'll have you know that she loves my singing," Jared said, apparently satisfied that Peter was whole. "She's not judgemental, like some people."

"I will side against the elephant this time," said Tomas. "She is making enough noise for us all, I think." 

Peter smiled. "She's looking stronger," he said, and both Jared and Tomas nodded and took a moment to gaze at her, as if she was the most amazing thing in the world. 

"She just needed a rest," Jared said, going back to her. "Good as new now. Aren't you, hey? Yes, you are, good as gold. Better, really. Prettier, certainly."

Peter ignored him, used to the romantic nonsense that came out of Jared's mouth when his beloved elephant was doing anything special, and this certainly qualified. 

"Anything I can do to help?" Peter asked.

"Not a lot any of us can do. She's strong enough, I think," Tomas said. "She just needs to get on with it, lazy thing."

"Hey!" Jared stroked Marisa's trunk. "Don't you listen to him. You're doing perfect."

  


* ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' * ' *

  


It took hours, they were well into the early hours of Christmas morning before anything much happened. Jared and Tomas fussed around her a lot, and Peter tried to stay out of the way. And then eventually, almost suddenly, a sac started appearing, and Marisa dropped her head, and her front legs trembled.

Peter had to hold Jared to remind him not to go to her. She would never hurt him on purpose, but Jared wasn't any match for a four ton elephant who was swaying and stomping, clearly in agony. She swung her head furiously, snorting in pain. But then she seemed to steady, and incredibly quickly the sac fell lower and lower, until it dropped to the ground, along with a rush of blood and mucus. 

The sac split, and they could see the baby, small and beautiful. But it just lay there. 

Jared gripped Peter's arm and looked at Tomas in a panic, but Tomas was already shushing him. 

"It's okay, Jared, you are always so in a hurry. It is new, give it just a moment." 

Marisa looked at her baby like she didn't know where it had come from. But after a second or two she pushed it with her trunk, then started to lick it, uncovering it from the mucus and the membrane surrounding it. And then they saw it wriggle, and Jared started breathing again. 

"Oh god," Jared said, and Tomas whispered a blessing in Romanian.

They all resisted the urge to go forward and help, they didn't want to interfere too quickly. Marisa had the baby all cleaned up really fast, and started nudging it, encouraging it to move, helping it to stand quicker than Peter could believe. It was tiny and massive all at once, and when it was on its feet Marisa trumpeted and it sounded like pride and love, and Jared's smile was full and stunning. 

"She had a baby," Jared said, as if it was a surprise after all this time. "Peter, look." 

Peter was already looking, but he smiled. "She did good," he said. 

Jared nodded. "Yeah, she did." Peter could feel the pride radiating out of him. "She did really good."

He turned into Peter's arms, crying quietly from relief, and grinning, and Peter picked him up without thinking, swinging him around, both of them laughing with delight. 

"Is she alright?" Jared asked Tomas, who'd gone forward to pet Marisa, tears in his eyes too.

"She is fine. She is strong, your elephant. Like her mother before her. And her daughter will be too, I think."

Jared laughed and wiped his tears away, then kissed Peter really hard and really quick. He went over to Marisa, smiled, and gently hugged her trunk. 

"Hey baby, look what you did," he said, and Marisa harrumphed, as if he should never have doubted her. "Are you okay, hey?"

Jared petted her for a while, reassuring himself that she was well. Then she nudged him towards her baby, blinking at him. Peter watched as he crouched down, gently petting the new arrival, whispering to her while Marisa watched them happily. The baby was still confused, her eyes slowly blinking open, her legs not steady. Jared was touching her like she was made of glass, murmuring love at her all the while.

Tomas nudged Peter. "You will not see a lot of him, I think. For a month or two."

Peter shook his head. That was true, but he couldn't stop smiling all the same. Jared's happiness was almost overwhelming.

After a few minutes, Marisa started fussing at Jared to get out of her way, and she prodded at the baby until it got into the right place, and started suckling. Tomas nodded, pleased. He told Jared to fetch him at once if anything looked wrong and went out to give the good news to the crowds outside. Snow swirled in through the door as he left, and Peter could hear carollers singing, and fires crackling. Peter shut the door firmly behind him, keeping the warm inside, not wanting to share this with the rest of the world yet.

He pulled Jared back into his arms, hugging him from behind so they could both watch the baby suckling, still wobbling slightly, on legs she didn't fully understand.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Jared said.

Peter laughed quietly, "Marisa, or her baby?"

"Well, both of them," he said, as if that was obvious. "They're beautiful."

Peter laughed again, because they were and it hardly needed saying, but he knew Jared was going to say it a whole lot. "What are we calling her?"

"Tomas says we have to call her something Christmassy, for the visitors. He wants to call her Star, or Angel."

"Tch. You should name her for an actress, like her mom. Do it quickly while he's not here."

"Dude, I'm not sure I _know_ any." Jared picked some of the bits of straw and dirt off Peter's sleeve, and then glanced at him quickly before looking down again. "I was thinking maybe Holly."

That was Jared's mom's name. 

Peter hugged him tighter, and nodded. "That's perfect. She'd like that, your mom." 

Jared nodded. He never talked to his dad, but his mom tried to visit the show once a year, and she wrote letters every month, and sent money sometimes. Peter liked her a lot, she didn't really approve of Jared's life at the circus and she never entirely approved of his life with Peter either. But she loved him enough to ignore it as best she could, and she always hugged Jared really tight before she left. Peter loved her most for that.

Jared pulled Peter's hand to his mouth, and kissed his fingers gently, then turned it over and kissed his palm as well. Peter could hear the crowd outside cheering as Tomas told them the news. 

"Running away with you was the best thing I ever did," Jared said quietly, seriously. "You know that, don't you?"

Peter's breath caught, and tears came to his eyes suddenly without warning, because Marisa was well, and Holly was beautiful, and it was Christmas and snowing and Jared loved him. 

"If you hadn't run away with me, I'd have run away with you," he promised. 

"Run away to become a lawyer, like my dad?"

"I wouldn't have minded, long as I had you."

Jared laughed. "You're quite soft, for a circus boy," he said, pulling Peter's arms tighter around him.

Peter kissed Jared's hair. Then they both laughed as Holly picked up a foot and almost fell trying to get a good look at it. 

"We'd have been amazing lawyers," Peter said.

"Best the world had ever seen." 

"But this is better."

"Way better." Jared wrinkled his nose. "No elephants in law firms."

Marisa had wandered over to her trough, she snorted loudly, picking through it disdainfully. Jared kissed Peter's hand again, and pulled him to come along as he went to help her. 

He stopped to stroke Holly first, though, smiled at her and caught her trunk, which made her blink in confusion. When he let go she swooshed it from side to side, wanting him to do it again. He turned his smile right up then, he practically glowed at her, and Peter watched her fall in love with him right in front of his eyes. Barely an hour old, but he couldn't blame her for it one bit. 

Looking at them together it didn't feel like seventeen years had passed since he'd seen Jared with Marisa that first time. Jared looked just the same, small and perfect and enchanted. And everything Peter had felt that day was suddenly there again, things he hadn't dared put into words back then. _Please let him remember I'm here, let him look at me like that, love _me_ like that, stay forever. _ He laughed at himself, and Jared looked at him questioning. 

"You okay?"

Peter nodded, tears in his eyes again. "Ignore me, I'm just falling in love with you a bit more."

Jared half laughed. "Yeah?" He looked almost shy, and then shoved Peter a little bit. "Stop it. You'll make me cry again."

"You're pretty soft for a city boy," Peter said, laughing gently.

Jared pulled him down for another kiss. "This is the best Christmas ever."

"Well don't get used to it, we can't have a new elephant every year. Next year it'll just be socks again."

Jared grinned and rested his forehead against Peter's chest, hugging him. "That's okay. Maybe in another twenty years, yeah?"

Peter nodded and Jared kissed him again, ever so gently, then pulled away to go and talk to Marisa. Peter smiled at him, he still loved watching them together. Another twenty years just like the last seventeen sounded like heaven to him.

**Author's Note:**

> (This fic is *fictional* and therefore shows a really improbably happy life for elephants in the circus. I tried to justify it as much as I could within the story, but I know most circus elephants aren't spending their days being loved and spoiled by Breckin Meyer.)


End file.
